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Selling goods in advance

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Fatwaa.com

Is it permissible to sell stock that you dont have in your possession
So in other words you take orders and then get the stock for the customer?

But the stock isn’t paid for until it’s gone to your customer
Only after that you pay for it

Answer

Wa’alaykum as Salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

A person cannot sell that which he does not own. Even after purchasing the item, the person has to first take possession before selling that item.

To get around these, you may adopt the Salam module.

Salam is a sale whereby the seller undertakes to supply some specific goods to the buyer at a future date in exchange of an advanced price fully paid on spot. The permissibility of Salam is dependent on the following conditions:

  • The customer should be notified that you do not have the item in possession, and you will obtain it only after receiving full payment.
  • The full payment of the item should be made at the time of effecting the sale. Failing to do so will be tantamount to a sale of debt against debt, this is expressly prohibited by Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam).
  • The details, quality and quantity must be specified, and there should be no scope for ambiguity that may lead to a dispute.
  • The time and place of delivery must be specified.
  • The commodity must remain available in the market right from the day of the contract up to the date of delivery.
  • A representative should be appointed to take possession of the item on your behalf. You could also make the shipping company your representative.

If these conditions are fulfilled, the transaction will be permissible.

And Allaah Ta’aala knows best

Wassalaam,

Ismail Moosa (Mufti)

References

“ولا يصح السلم حتى يقبض رأس المال قبل أن يفارقه فيه” أما إذا كان من النقود فلأنه افتراق عن دين بدين، وقد “نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم عن الكالئ بالكالئ وإن كان عينا”، فلأن السلم أخذ عاجل بآجل، إذ الإسلام والإسلاف ينبئان عن التعجيل فلا بد من قبض أحد العوضين ليتحقق معنى الاسم، ولأنه لا بد من تسليم رأس المال ليتقلب المسلم إليه فيه فيقدر على التسليم (الهداية في شرح بداية المبتدي – 3/ 74)

للسلم شرائط كثيرة. أحدها: بيان جنس المسلم فيه كقولنا تمر. والثاني: بيان نوعه كقولنا فارسي أو ما أشبهه. والثالث: بيان صفته كقولنا جيد أو ردي. الرابع: بيان قدره في المكيلات بالكيل والموزونات بالوزن والمعدودات بالعدد….. (التاتارخانية – 9  /332)

و منها : ان يكون مقبوضا في مجلس السلم لأن المسلم فيه دين و الإفتراق لا عن قبض رأس المال يكون افتراقا عن دين بدين و أنه منهي عنه لما روي أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم : [ نهى عن بيع الكالىء بالكالىء ] أي النسيئة بالنسيئة (بدائع الصنائع – 4/ 433)

This answer was collected from Fatwaa.com which is an excellent Q&A site managed by Mufti Ismail Moosa from South Africa. .

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